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Tie Domi
| birth_place = Windsor, Ontario, Canada | draft = 27th overall | draft_year = 1988 | draft_team = Toronto Maple Leafs | career_start = 1989 | career_end = 2006 }} Tie Domi (born Tahir Domi on November 1, 1969) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 16 years for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers & Winnipeg Jets. Known for his role as an enforcer, he has more penalty minutes than any other player in the history of the Maple Leafs and third overall in penalty minutes in NHL history. He is the father of NHL forward Max Domi, who currently plays in the NHL for the Arizona Coyotes. Playing Career Minor and Junior Tie grew up in the town of Belle River, Ontario, playing minor hockey for the local Belle River Rink Rats (OMHA). His parents are Albanians from the town of Kukesi, who fled Communist Albania for Canada following World War II. As a 15-year-old, he played for the Belle River Canadiens of the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League & moved up a level the following year with the Windsor Bulldogs of the Western Junior B Hockey League. After being selected in the seventh round (102nd overall) of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Priority Selection by the Peterborough Petes, Tie began his major junior career in 1986–87. He spent his first year as a part-time player with the Petes, also seeing time with the nearby Peterborough Roadrunners in the Metro Junior A Hockey League. Playing a full season with the Petes in 1987–88, Tie recorded an OHL career-high 22 goals and 43 points over 60 games. With 292 penalty minutes, Domi quickly earned a reputation as an enforcer. During the off-season, he was selected in the second round (27th overall) by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft. Upon his selection, he returned to the Petes for one more season of junior, recording 14 goals and 30 points over 43 games. Professional Tie turned professional in the 1989–90 season with Toronto's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Newmarket Saints. He recorded 14 goals and 25 points over 57 games while also making his NHL debut, appearing in two games with the Leafs that year. In the off-season, he was traded to the New York Rangers. He split the subsequent year between New York and their AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Rangers. During his 28 games with New York in the 1990–91 season, he scored his first NHL goal. After playing a full NHL campaign with the Rangers in the 1991–92 season, Tie was traded early the following season to the Winnipeg Jets. In 1995, Tie was traded back to the Toronto Maple Leafs. During that year, New York Rangers defenceman Ulf Samuelsson was famously knocked unconscious by a sucker punch to the face from Domi. He received an eight-game suspension and a fine for the incident, described by some as one of the cheapest shots in NHL history. He insisted that Samuelsson provoked the punch by repeatedly calling him "dummy". In the 1997–98 season, he set a Leafs single-season record with 365 penalty minutes, passing a mark set by Tiger Williams in the 1977–78 season. During the 2000–01 season, Tie was fined $1,000 (the maximum possible fine at the time) for an incident involving a fan during an away game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Sitting in the penalty box, he used his water bottle to spray water at a heckler, prompting another Flyers fan, Christopher Falcone to begin yelling at him and climbing up the glass. The glass panel gave way & Falcone fell into the penalty box. Domi then grabbed Falcone and punched him several times. After the game in an interview, Domi said to the media, "It's nice to see the fans get involved, I guess." On May 3, 2001, in the closing seconds of Game 4 of the 2001 Eastern Conference Semi-finals, well away from the play, Tie threw an elbow at the head of New Jersey Devils defenceman Scott Niedermayer, knocking him unconscious. He received a five-minute intent to injure penalty and was later suspended by the league for the remainder of the playoffs. On June 30, 2002, he was traded to the Nashville Predators by Toronto for Nashville's 8th round choice (Shaun Landolt) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, but never played a game with Nashville & later re-signing with Toronto as a free agent on July 14, 2002. He had his best season in the 2003-04 NHL season when he set career highs of 15 goals and 29 points. In what turned out to be his final season in 2005–06, Tie scored his 100th NHL goal. He played in his 1,000th career NHL game on March 3, 2006 against the Buffalo Sabres. Seven days later, on March 10, 2006, he was a healthy scratch for the Maple Leafs game versus the New York Islanders. It was the first time since the 1999 playoffs that Tie had been made a healthy scratch by coach Pat Quinn. Tie stated publicly that he was not happy with being benched, a fact that was underlined by his staying in his hotel room, not arriving at the game until after the second period. This is widely regarded as a contributing factor in the decision to buy out his contract. On June 30, 2006, the Maple Leafs opted to buy out Tie's final year of his contract & he became a free agent on July 1, 2006. Without a contract several months later, he announced his retirement on September 19, 2006. Career Statistics Personal Life Tie has three children from his marriage to his ex-wife, Leanne: daughters Carlin & Avery Rose and son Max (who plays for the Arizona Coyotes & regularly attends them). His 13-year marriage ended in divorce in 2006 amid allegations by his wife that he had committed adultery with then-MP Belinda Stronach; a settlement was reached in September 2006 before allegations could be raised in court. Tie now spends his time with his girlfriend, Heather and his children. During his NHL career, Tie also appeared in three films, playing a role in the 1999 independent film "Men of Means" while also making a cameo appearance in the hockey-themed drama "Mystery, Alaska." Following his retirement, he accepted a position in broadcasting with The Sports Network (TSN) which lasted less than a month. In 2007, Tie played himself in an episode of season 2 of Canadian sitcom "Rent-a-Goalie" titled "Domi Daze". In October 2009, he began competing as a pairs figure skater on the CBC Network reality show Battle of the Blades with Christine Hough. He is currently a spokesperson for Comwave, a telecommunications company. In 2015, Tie released his first book called "Shift Work." Tie has also been involved in football and Canadian football at the professional and semi-professional levels. He played a full season for Kosovo of the Canadian International Soccer League during the summer of 1995 & appeared in two pre-season exhibition games as a placekicker for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Category:1969 births Category:Canadian ice hockey players Category:Canadian ice hockey right wingers Category:Toronto Maple Leafs draft picks Category:Toronto Maple Leafs players Category:New York Rangers players Category:Winnipeg Jets (1979–96) players Category:Peterborough Petes alumni Category:Newmarket Saints players Category:Binghamton Rangers player